Sonos Wants to Be Carbon Neutral, however No Word On Planned Obsolescence

Sonos on Wednesday introduced a brand new product sustainability program with a lofty carbon neutrality objective for its whole line by 2030 and web zero emissions by 2040.

The program—a part of the model’s newly introduced Climate Action Plan—is broadly designed to cut back the e-waste and emissions generated by Sonos’ merchandise in service of a renewed dedication to long-term sustainability. In reaching that objective, Sonos has partnered with a third-party group referred to as VitalMetrics, which is able to map the carbon footprint of every section of a product’s lifespan, from design to packaging and delivery to its use and eventual retirement.

“With our Climate Action Plan, we’re entering a new phase in our commitment to environmental responsibility, stepping up our efforts across the board to reduce our impact,” Patrick Spence, the CEO of Sonos, mentioned in an announcement. “Sonos is a company founded on innovation; we are invigorated by the challenge to innovate and create better solutions for our customers and for the planet.”

In addition to conducting its first ever product environmental life cycle evaluation this yr, Sonos additionally introduced a listing of quick and long-term objectives that can ostensibly assist it obtain higher power effectivity. Among these targets will probably be getting its whole product line loaded up with a “sleep mode” setting, with the objective of lowering idle energy consumption to lower than 2 watts for its whole portfolio whereas a tool isn’t in use. While Sonos estimates that the lifetime use of its merchandise accounts for roughly 75% of the corporate’s carbon emissions, that differs from client electronics extra broadly, which a report from Greenpeace estimates normally have greater than 70-80% of their carbon footprint produced through the manufacturing course of.

The firm additionally plans to start changing virgin plastics utilized in its packaging with post-consumer recycled plastic, and also will double down on its present efforts to increase the lifespans of its present merchandise, which it started earlier this yr with a brand new Design for Disassembly perform. Under that new program, all new audio system and parts will probably be constructed with elements which might be easier to restore and recycle—akin to fasteners as an alternative of adhesives.

A dedication to decreasing emissions is all nicely and good; in reality, extra client electronics firms needs to be following in Sonos’ footsteps and making related commitments to cut back their e-waste and carbon footprint. The reality of the matter stays, nonetheless, that Sonos has a reasonably spotty document with regards to recycling as it’s, and this program is simply scant sufficient on particulars that it’s powerful to know simply but whether or not or not it will likely be efficient in the long term.

In the previous two years, Sonos has been rightly referred to as out for its Trade Up {hardware} recycling program, which initially incentivized clients to brick their gadgets earlier than redeeming them, rendering them inconceivable to refurbish and resell. Although the corporate finally reversed course on that call, not requiring customers to place their gadgets into Recycle Mode in an effort to redeem them, Sonos has additionally come below fireplace within the final yr for its determination to retire a few of its older fashions, ceasing to roll out software program updates for the outdated merchandise, which serves to push folks to improve maybe unnecessarily.

Still, except for the e-waste inevitably generated by deliberate obsolescence, Sonos is an organization that does fairly good on product longevity on the entire, and the truth that it’s redoubling its efforts on the sustainability entrance is an effective signal.